"Survey on the Annual Year-End Awards" T-members make big predictions about the annual year-end awards and the final performer of the Red and White Song Battle! This year's kanji is "tax" and the Best Dresser Award goes to "Kei Nishikori"

2014.11.26 Press Releases
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.

-The anime boom with Frozen and Yo-kai Watch, the success of athletes Kei Nishikori and Yuzuru Hanyu, the consumption tax hike, etc.-

Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has conducted its annual end-of-year award survey using the online "T Survey," targeting 1,409 T members, both male and female, aged 18 to 69, who use T cards.

Annual year-end awards survey digest

●Predictions for the "New Words and Popular Phrase Awards"! The most popular answer was...
　First place goes to "Frozen" from Frozen. *Survey conducted before the nominees were announced.
●Predictions for "Kanji of the Year"! The most popular answer was...
　The first consumption tax increase in 17 years.
●Predictions for the Japan Record Awards! The most popular answer was...
　From the morning drama "Gochisousan" "Rain, then clear, I want to protect you" by Yuzu
●Predictions for the "Best Dressed Award"! The most popular answer was...
　The hero who caused a huge sensation in the tennis world: Kei Nishikori
●Predicting who will be the final act at the Red and White Song Battle! The most popular answer was...
　The Red Team is... "Akiko Wada", while the White Team is... "SMAP"

*Company names and product/service names mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.

●Predictions for the "New Words and Popular Phrase Awards"! The most popular answer was...

　First place goes to "Frozen" from Frozen. *Survey conducted before the nominees were announced.

December 2014 is fast approaching. Looking back on this year, it has been a year of many events, including the success of young athletes such as Yuzuru Hanyu, Kei Nishikori, and Hideki Matsuyama, efforts to revive the Japanese economy and economy, such as the consumption tax increase, the dissolution of the House of Representatives, and a general election, as well as natural disasters such as dengue fever, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, the Hiroshima landslide, and the eruption of Mount Ontake. We conducted a survey of 1,409 T members to ask them to make their big predictions about the annual end-of-year awards that will define 2014, and who will be the final performer at NHK's "Kohaku Uta Gassen."
First, the "U-CAN New Words and Buzzwords Awards" (this survey was conducted before the nominations were announced, so some words were not included). When people were asked to predict which word they thought would win the grand prize in this year's U-CAN New Word and Popular Phrase Award, the number one choice was "Frozen" (27.5%), an abbreviation of the title of the hit movie "Frozen."Coming in second place was "Dame yo Dame Dame" (27.0%) by the Japan Elekiteru Rengo, a catchphrase that is uttered by children and adults alike, and in third place was the hugely popular children's anime "Yokai Watch" (9.3%). Coming in fourth place was "Let It Go" (6.9%), the theme song from "Frozen" that was also a huge hit when the film was released, and in fifth place was the "kabedon" (5.8%), the situation that makes girls' hearts flutter!

●Predictions for "Kanji of the Year"! The most popular answer was...

　The first consumption tax increase in 17 years.

The "Kanji of the Year" is chosen every year on December 12th, Kanji Day, at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto as the character that best represents the state of affairs that year. When we asked people to predict which kanji would be chosen for 2014, the top choice was "tax" (7.6%), possibly influenced by the consumption tax increase from 5% to 8% in April this year, the first increase in 17 years. In second place was "fever" (6.8%), which evokes memories of the Ebola virus that spread in West Africa and the mosquito-borne dengue fever that broke out this summer. In third place was "snow" (5.6%), a character chosen from the hit movie "Frozen."In fourth place was the single character "masu" (4.8%), which also brings to mind the consumption tax increase, and in fifth place was "uso" (lie) (3.0%), which is one of the factors that causes various news and topics to be discussed.

●Predictions for the Japan Record Awards! The most popular answer was...

　From the morning drama "Gochisousan" "Rain, then clear, I want to protect you" by Yuzu

Next, we asked people to predict the name of the artist and song they thought would win this year's Record of the Year at the 56th annual Japan Record Awards, a year-end music festival. In this case, the number one choice was "Ame no Chi Hareruya/Mamoru Agetai" by Yuzu (14.1%), which was also the theme song for the NHK morning drama series Gochisousan. The second nominee for the Record of the Year was "GUTS! / Arashi" (12.6%), which was a huge hit along with the TV drama "Yowaketemo Kaetemasu ~Aoshi Sensei and the Ambitions of a Heppoko High School Baseball Player~" starring Arashi's Ninomiya Kazunari. In third place was "Nijiiro/Ayaka" (8.2%), the theme song for NHK's morning drama series "Hanako to Anne," which depicts the life of Hanako Muraoka, the translator of "Anne of Green Gables."All of the top three were ranked high due to hit TV dramas.

●Predictions for the "Best Dressed Award"! The most popular answer was...

　The hero who caused a huge sensation in the tennis world: Kei Nishikori

The Best Dresser Award has been given every December for the past 40 years, and is selected from fields including politics, economics, academia, culture, sports, and entertainment. Among these, we focused on the "Sports/Entertainment" category and asked people to predict who they thought would win the 2014 "Best Dresser Award." The overwhelming majority of people chose Kei Nishikori (18.1%), the hugely popular young tennis player who came in second at the US Open and has risen to fifth place in the world rankings, as their top choice for the award. In second place is actor Fukushi Sota (6.2%), who rose to fame through the NHK morning drama series "Amachan" and is now in high demand for dramas and movies. In third place is popular actress Ayase Haruka (4.0%), who is seen in movies, dramas, and commercials every day. In fourth place is Ishihara Satomi (3.3%), who has appeared in the TV dramas "Shitsuren Chocolatier" and "Dear Sister." In fifth place is figure skater Hanyu Yuzuru (3.1%), the first Japanese man to win a gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

●Predicting who will be the final act at the Red and White Song Battle! The most popular answer was...

　The Red Team is... "Akiko Wada", while the White Team is... "SMAP"

Speaking of traditional end-of-year programs, there's NHK's "Kohaku Uta Gassen," which is broadcast on New Year's Eve. The hosts for the 65th annual "Kohaku Uta Gassen" have been decided to be Yuriko Yoshitaka, who played Muraoka Hanako in "Hanako to Anne," for the Red Team, and the members of Arashi, who will be hosting for the fifth time in a row, for the White Team. The performers for this year's "Kohaku Uta Gassen" have not yet been announced, but before that, we asked people to predict who would be closing out the Red and White teams. First, for the Red team, Akiko Wada (29.8%), who always performs powerful songs at "Kohaku Uta Gassen," came in with an overwhelming majority of votes. Next up in the White Group was SMAP (39.6%), a group that is also a regular performer at the Red and White Song Battle, and also ranked highly. Next, in second place for the Red Team finale was Takako Matsu (5.7%), who is also highly anticipated to perform on a music program, and in third place was Mariko Takahashi (5.1%). On the other hand, the second place for the final act in the White Team was Arashi (31.8%), who also served as the White Team's MC, and third place was EXILE (3.3%).

■ Survey Overview
Survey method: Internet (T Survey)
Survey period: November 14th (Friday) to November 18th (Tuesday), 2014
Survey area: Nationwide
Survey subjects: Men and women aged 18 to 69 (T members)
Sample size: 1,409 people
10～20代    30～40代    50～60代    合計
男性    196人    305人    181人    682人
女性    201人    330人    196人    727人
合計    397人    635人    377人    1,409人

■What is the T Survey?
This is one of the largest online research services in Japan, with 9 million T Card users registered. All members who complete research and surveys will be rewarded with T Points. In addition, the responses you provide will be processed as statistical information and used by companies and media outlets for product development and service planning. Each and every opinion we receive from our members will be an important key point in creating a bright future for people, companies, and Japan.
CCC offers marketing solutions to companies, from planning surveys through "T Surveys" to compiling and analyzing them as a research program tailored to their needs.

Materials related to this matter

"Survey on the Annual Year-End Awards" T-members make big predictions about the annual year-end awards and the final performer of the Red and White Song Battle! This year's kanji is "tax" and the Best Dresser Award goes to "Kei Nishikori"

Inquiries regarding this matter
■Inquiries regarding the press release:
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Officer: Ando
TEL: 03-6800-4464

■Inquiries regarding the T Survey:
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
Sales representative: Itakura and Hirano
MAIL: dbwatch@ccc.co.jp
TEL: 03-6800-4561